Don't Get Too Close
by Monroe-Militia
Summary: Bass decides to leave and give Miles the one thing the he really wants... Or so Bass thinks.


Bass knew that he had screwed things up. Miles had given him a second chance and he'd thrown it all away. And for what? Because he was trying so damn hard to keep Miles safe from the mess he'd become.

He put on a happy face, making dumb jokes so that he wouldn't see how dark and twisted he was inside… So that Miles wouldn't see that he was broken beyond repair.

He'd managed to pull off the charade, but he was anything but happy about it. Miles was distancing himself alright. Bass had been so convincing in his emotionless act that he'd managed to convince Miles that he was the remorseless monster he'd been when he'd pushed Miles into running away.

But now the fight was over. The Patriots were cleaned up, his son was gone, and yet he was still sticking around Willoughby for someone who would rather have him gone.

He needed to leave. He had to find somewhere else and start off as someone new again. He needed to live somewhere where he could separate himself from the guilt of all he had done and the pain of all that he had lost.

* * *

><p>"You're leaving?"<p>

Bass took another swig of liquid courage as he mentally reprimanded himself for not leaving before the one person who could keep him there found out. Then again, a part of him had been desperately hoping Miles would stop him. That's why he had packed all of his stuff up and then stopped for a drink before taking off.

"Don't sound so surprised. It's not like there's anything left here for me," Bass pointed out. "You've got your family here. I've got nothing… Which is a good thing. Who wants to be stuck in a place like this anyways?"

"Do you even know where you're going?" Miles questioned as he sat down next to his friend and grabbed the bottle out of his hand.

"Somewhere else… Anywhere else," he responded. "Why? You want me to send you a postcard when I get there?"

"So that's it. You're just running off?" Miles questioned before pausing to take a swig out of the bottle in his hands. "Going back to making a living off of bar-fights?"

"I thought you wanted me gone," Bass challenged.

"Yeah. And I thought you were just going to follow me around like a lost puppy, refusing to leave me alone, forever," the other man responded.

"Clearly you're sorry to see me go," Bass muttered sarcastically.

"When you first came back I wanted to kill you just so that I wouldn't have to be in the same damn town as you," Miles pointed out.

"I noticed," Bass commented. "This is a really moving speech and all, but I think I'll pass on how much you want me gone and just go."

"Shut up, I'm trying to say something nice. But, if you keep interrupting me, then I won't bother," Miles grumbled out. "I thought having you here would be a disaster, and maybe it was sometimes, but you came through. You bitched and moaned about it the whole time, but you did a good job… So maybe I'm not quite as eager to get rid of you as I'd like to be."

Bass turned to look his friend in the eyes as he questioned, "You want me to stay?"

"Is it really so surprising that I might not completely hate having you around?" Miles asked defensively.

"If you want me to stay, all you have to do is tell me, Miles."

"Don't make me say it," Miles groaned.

Bass didn't say a word and, instead, shot him an unsympathetic little smirk.

"Fine. I don't want you to leave for good," Miles admitted as he stared down at the bottle instead of looking over at his friend. "Are you happy, asshole?"

There was a pause as Bass talked himself into saying the words that he knew he had to before he finally spoke up.

"I am… But I'm still going."

"So, what? You made me admit that I want you here and you're still running off just for the sake of running?" Miles questioned.

"I don't want to run off. I have to," Bass insisted. "I can't stay, Miles. It's too hard being here after I screwed everything up. I can't look at you every day and know that I ruined everything. I can't stay here when I know you'd rather hate me than keep me around if you could."

He really believed the words as he said them and he was convinced that he was going. He even got up and grabbed his stuff, prepared to leave his old life and Miles behind.

But Miles got up after him and did the one thing that was sure to break the other man's resolve.

Miles brought a hand roughly to one side of Bass's face as he leaned forwards to roughly smash his lips against the other man's. The kiss was sloppy and aggressive and well overdue, but it was everything that Bass had needed to overpower the rational part of his brain that told him to run like hell from Miles Matheson.

When Miles pulled back, he didn't say a word. No explanation, no goodbye, he just turned and walked away without so much as a glance back.

Bass remained frozen as his brain tried to process what had just happened. Finally, he snapped back to reality and cursed under his breath before lifting his bag up off of the ground and heading after Miles.

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><p><strong>AN: Please read and review! This story is dedicated to SciFiDVM as part of a secret Santa present.**


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